Photo: Public works director Milo Rust answers Chadron city council members' questions regarding the sewer extension projects' progress estimates for the Niobrara Addition and the Wood's Lift Station.

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(CHADRON)-The Chadron city council approved progress estimates for Buettner Construction for two sanitary sewer extension projects for the city at their meeting Monday night. The first, for the Niobrara Addition on East Niobrara Avenue, was for $92,923.85, which leaves $70,870.15 remaining on the project as work continues. The total project is costing the city $188,794. The second, which is for the Wood’s Lift Station replacement from Linden Street to Stockade Road, was for $31,387.42, which is bringing the $143,434.80 project to its close unless something unusual crops up. After this second payment, the city still owes $17,047.38 on the project.

Also at their meeting, the council discussed and finally rejected a proposal for a new vertical wall mount flag pole for the police department. Each member agreed that the department needs a new one due to safety and convenience factors, but several members expressed their concern over the $1,975 price tag on the pole, which does not even include installation. The council, in a vote of 4-1, with Mayor Karin Fischer for the current proposal, decided to request some other less expensive options from the police department before making a further decision.

The council spent a considerable amount of time discussing and receiving counsel from city attorney Adam Edmund on LB397, the piece of legislature that essentially requires the city and other communities to compare themselves with other similar communities regarding city employee wages and benefits. It was determined that of the 14 positions that are needing changes on the comparability study this year, 10 of those are internal and four are due to comparability factors. It also appears that the budget this year will be impacted by approximately $43,000 due to the needed changes. Several members agreed that LB397, which is a newer law, has flaws and may very well be challenged by communities who feel they are being shortchanged in the future.

Fixed base operator Mark Hutton also met with the council to discuss his contract’s termination at the Chadron Municipal Airport and to request an extension. He expressed some concerns he had, especially in regard to the one month notice he received, saying that was not enough time to get things in the proper working order before handing the reins over to someone else. The council decided to further discuss the situation at their next meeting in October, so that city manager Wayne Anderson, who was not at the meeting this week, could be in attendance as well. Hutton, who resides in Las Vegas, said he will plan on being at that meeting as well.

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